Saturday, July 23, 2011

Skytrain cars by Bombardier

Vancouver's SkyTrain cars are built by Bombardier, a Quebec company started by a man with a mission. Today Bombardier builds trains and planes all over the world.J. Armand Bombardier lived in a small village back when rural roads remained unploughed in winter. His two-year-old son died when winter snow was too deep to transport him to hospital.

After this, M. Bombardier was determined to build a vehicle that could travel over snow and he developed and perfected the Ski-doo. The original name was to be the Ski Dog; it was a clerical error that led to the name we know so well today.

The original prototypes of the Ski-Doo can be seen at the Musee J. Armand Bombardier in Valcourt, Quebec. A current exhibition shows the garage where this remarkable man began his illustrious mechanical and engineering career at the age of 19, in 1926.